DropoutDAO Working Groups

Since our start just under 4 weeks ago, DropoutDAO is now home to 200+ members in our Discord, with a growing waiting list of 400+ people. We’ve grown sustainably both in IRL and URL, and have learned so much from all community members around the world through our 1:1 onboarding calls.

Today, we’re excited to announce **DropoutDAO working groups, a new way to contribute to the DropoutDAO community.**

We’re looking forward to contributions from our talented community of unconventional thinkers. Learn more about the working group teams below, and join us [here](https://airtable.com/shrk46uREnIu6qBZx).

👅 For more context on our decentralized university, read our manifesto [here.](https://mirror.xyz/dropoutdao.eth/HvkFe7-PXtwK4CQ6T8CoxZW2Z19PJJa7nIt3LlbMuQg)

## DropoutDAO organizational structure

As DropoutDAO has matured in operations over the last month and begun to explore ways to scale sustainably, bring forward amazing learning opportunities, and create incredible social structures, having a solid core team that communicates and establishes a consistent supportive presence becomes paramount for transparency and growth for the community.

We’ve put a lot of thought into creating a modern campus that will work together across IRL and URL experiences, and **our team to create this experience will be structured as follows:**

![dropoutDAO working groups](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/7XdWSoSmgBfoBjPgD1HJ7.jpg?height=2048&width=2732)

As DropoutDAO builds the first learning epicenter for those curious about learning and social ecosystems, we are looking to move the needle to empower our community with the right tools to create the first decentralized university.

### **Core**

The Core team consists of 1-2 leaders on each of the product, content, URL, IRL, and partnerships branches and brings every team together.

Core team members are driven by the desire to change school infrastructure and long outdated systems, are the connoisseurs behind interesting learning experiences, and are alchemists bringing together melting pots of communities of students from across universities around the world.

We’re looking for 2-4 passionate co-leads to [join our team](https://airtable.com/shrk46uREnIu6qBZx).

### Product

The Product team looks to consolidate all DropoutDAO tools under one roof. By creating better tools for our learning and social community, they are the architects behind the digital infrastructure of our digital campus.

Some products to keep an eye out for in the coming semester:

* DropoutDAO website build
* DropoutDAO Directory Beta
* Beta Governance System
* IRL City Campuses
* Bulletin Initiative (texting)
* Rebrand

We’re looking for experienced designers and product devs who want to push the boundaries of internet learning and IRL social products. If this sounds like you, [join us](https://airtable.com/shrk46uREnIu6qBZx).

### Content

The Content team creates the digital presence of dropoutDAO.

**They ask the questions:** How do people discover DropoutDAO? How should we reflect the voice of DropoutDAO community? How should we translate and document the physical experiences back into the digital? How do we crystallize our memories and shape them in a form that is made to last? What stories should we highlight from the community?

Some initiatives within Content we’re actively developing:

* Marketing/Growth (we're working on some superrr fun drops heh)
* Social
* Audio
* Publication

We’re looking for talented marketers, growth hackers, commit builders, content creators, writers, creative directors, designers, and producers who are obsessed with the next generation of learning, social, and web3. If this sounds like you, [join us](https://airtable.com/shrk46uREnIu6qBZx).

### URL

URL is home to our campus in the metaverse.

It is where we foster interactions across nation-borders, across cities, and bring together minds where ever we are physically.

URL will create the infrastructure for peer

https://mirror.xyz/xbKsFBYxO3CYBiOndQ9tbyVW0r7uJaY54S_i0wKwNdk

dropoutDAO manifesto 👅

## prologue

University is a leap away from home, the first venture into the abyss.

It’s a new start, an admission ticket to a new community. This community is incredibly valuable — university alumni networks are carefully crafted to cultivate each university's reputation, credibility, and legacy.

**However, school is expensive.** According to a study done in 2019 by *New York Life*, it takes adults on average[ 18.5 years to pay off loans](https://www.cnbc.com/select/how-long-it-takes-to-pay-off-student-loans/). If the upfront cost was worth the investment, then it may make sense. However, these days, it’s just [“an expensive way to find yourself](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2014/09/29/a-college-degree-is-the-new-high-school-diploma/?sh=6a7a8a574b44).”

School and its curriculum have increasingly failed to adapt to how students learn and grow, and more and more students are feeling trapped by the administrative and bureaucratic processes of repetitive lectures, classes, and homework.

For many, **school is no longer worth the upfront investment for its grandiose promise of security.**

Access to a high-quality education and a community of like-minded individuals shouldn’t be hinged on one’s financial situation or geographic location.

## why dropoutDAO

We’re creating **the first decentralized university** for a community of risk-takers, dreamers, and builders who thrive outside the classroom.

We believe in supporting our community through peer-to-peer guidance and learning-by-doing. Large class zoom meetings are boring: their online guided curriculum is not personalized, and accountability is not built into the learning.

We dream of not being bound to a single campus or education system—but rather to provide a safe, encouraging space for students who are considering leaving, or have left school.

Through organizing co-living experiences and IRL events, we hope to create a decentralized, tight-knit campus of interesting people from cities around the world. We hope to redefine the way we shape connections and relationships, build social nodes with those around us, and **find those nodes wherever we are in the world.**

We envision that the future of education and personal growth has outpaced traditional universities. Rather than lectures and assignments, the future of learning will exist in decentralized pockets of collaborative, mission-driven spaces.

## how the first decentralized university will be built

To us, reimagining education isn’t just another 12-week bootcamp, online course, or digital textbook — it involves renovating the entire system by which we have teachers work with students. It involves untangling ourselves from institutions and outdated systems of control. It involves redirecting the pressure and financial burden of higher education towards more efficient avenues of obtaining expertise.

Specifically, we will focus on…

### community

The best part about post-secondary education is the experiences you have as you grow into adulthood, and become integrated in a powerful community. We seek to separate the social experiences of being at university from the curriculum to **create an educational community without boundaries.**

**To emulate the social experiences of being at university,** we will foster tight friend groups through shared experiences and memories that allow for serendipitous and spontaneous interactions. This includes facilitating IRL events and experiences like co-living houses throughout the year, especially for conferences, ohappy hours, intimate dinners, or field trips to say, \~sky dive\~.

### peer-to-peer learning

Sitting in large classes is unproductive for both professors and students. Professors can’t provide individualized support for students, and students don’t feel incentivized to contribute to discussions. Curriculum is outdated and does not provide the personalized education necessary to excel in today’s world.

With the ability to transmit knowledge online